New video features Student Dust Counter and team members

Posted May 9th, 2011

SDC team members gather next to the finished instrument and some of the testing equipment. The white suits are worn to protect the instrument from dust and dirt that could cause interference with sensors and damage to equipment. (Courtesy LASP)

A new video that introduces the unique story of LASP student involvement in a NASA satellite instrument is now available. The video features students involved in the design, production, and operation of the Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (SDC), an instrument aboard the NASA New Horizons mission to Pluto. Under the supervision of professional education staff, LASP undergraduate student Alex Thom compiled the video from archived mission footage and interviews.

Launched in 2006, and on its way to Pluto and beyond, SDC will provide information on the dust that strikes the spacecraft during its fourteen-year journey across the solar system. These observations will advance our understanding of the origin and evolution of our own solar system, as well as helping scientists study planet formation in dust disks around other stars.